Speculaas Broken Recipe

Recipe Contributed By: Gertie van den Goor*
*Recipe from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups flour, plus extra to dust the counter

1 ½ sticks butter

1 ¼ cups packed dark brown sugar

4 T speculaas kruiden* (see below)

Pinch salt

2 tablespoons ice-cold water

Almonds

*You can buy the speculaas kruiden online at the Dutchstore or make it yourself. There are many recipes online for it that are all a little bit different. I like this mixture:

Combine:

10 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons nutmeg

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cardamom

1 teaspoon white pepper

Instructions:

Sift the flour in a bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces (I put the butter in the freezer for 30 minutes and use the grove grater).

Add the butter, brown sugar, kruiden (store-bought or homemade) and salt to the bowl. Add the ice-cold water and mix everything together until you have a dark brown dough that sticks together. Shape the dough into a ball. You may need to add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water. I usually place everything on the counter because that makes it easier to work the dough.

Cover the dough ball in clear wrap and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Dust the counter with flour, and roll the dough until it is ½-inch thick. Transfer onto a baking sheet covered with baking paper.

Press the almonds into the dough and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

Let the Speculaas cool down on a rack and break into pieces when all cooled down.

(Variation: roll the dough into a roll and cut into ½-inch slices. Add almonds and bake.)